Unforgettable interviews

There’s no shortage of tales told by interviewees of their odd experiences being interviewed, however the same is true of interviewers interviewing bizarre interviewees. I submit the following true wacky situations as proof of the bizarre:

There was the time the candidate came into his interview with his lunch in a paper bag. He proceeded to carefully unpack his lunch and then chow-down during the interview.

Then there was a candidate who appeared wearing an almost white shirt with a pocket protector full of pens and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Another candidate appeared again for an interview about two months after his initial interview, but this time wearing a fake mustache and glasses, trying to get the same job he was rejected for previously.

Then we had a candidate who came in with a full video presentation of himself, along with 8 X 10 glossy pictures of himself so we wouldn’t forget him.

Another seemingly strong candidate when asked why he left his previous job said “I got fired for stealing money”. Not wanting to appear phased by his answer, I asked him why he left the job before that and he said, “I was fired from that job too for stealing money.” I figured I’d skate from that answer by asking him, “and how about the job previous to that one?”, and he said, “I also got fired from that one for stealing money.” My guess is that he’s still out there somewhere interviewing for another job.

Then there was the time a woman came in to be interviewed and when asked, “Please tell me a little bit about yourself.” She immediately broke down into tears. We consoled her, provided some tissue and water and gave her some time to recoup, and tried it again by asking “So, why are you interested in joining our company?” and the very same thing happened again. At that point we all decided to reschedule the interview for a more appropriate time in the future.

Another interviewee upon entering the room began to hyperventilate, and then used a small brown paper bag to pull himself together. This happened a few more times during the interview until the bag broke with a loud pop.

One candidate would hum after each answer,

Another candidate wanted to share with us his singing skills from the play “Oklahoma”

And finally there was the candidate who entered the interview room, and immediately chastised us for the rejection letter he knew he was going to receive from us; he then left the room before the interview ever began.

So when it comes to interviewing or being interviewed, you just never know what’s going to happen; it might be spectacular or it might be unforgettable.